WAC2BL: Christlike
Scripture Text: Ephesians 5.1-2, NLT
INTRODUCTION
When we listen to a passage - like Ephesians 5 - …we should imagine ourselves sitting in someone’s living-room ~ …or sitting on the back-porch of a friend’s house ~ …and listening to our pastor reading from a letter… …a letter written by someone we trust; …someone who used-to live among us, …but has since moved-away to work somewhere else. You can think of someone like-that, can’t you!?!
The New Testament book of Ephesians was a letter like-that… …a letter written by Paul; …a letter written to the Christians who lived and worshiped in the great city of Ephesus. These-people knew Paul… Paul used-to-live among them. In fact, if you want to read about their time-together, …look at the book of Acts, …in chapters 19 and 20. He served as their pastor for over two years. And during his time there, …an amazing number of things happened. Paul preached in the synagogue ~ …until he got-kicked-out! Then he preached in the city ~ …until there got to be so-much-interest and curiosity that he went to a place called “the lecture hall of Tyrannus”~ …and people from all over came to hear Paul preach and lead discussion-groups. People were healed through Paul’s ministry; …and others were freed from the control of evil-powers. The time-when Paul was in Ephesus was a terrific time for the growing-church-there! And the kingdom of God made-strong-advances against the kingdom of darkness.
Have you ever heard the story of the “seven sons of Sceva”? Well, it happened in Ephesus! The chief priest was Sceva; …he had seven sons; …and these seven-sons fancied-themselves as able to deliver people from demon-possession. When they saw how God blessed Paul’s ministry, …they started imitating his-methods. Whenever they performed an exorcism, …they would say something-like:
“In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”
Apparently, they’d seen Paul do this-kinda-thing ~ “…in the name of Jesus” ~ …so, they thought they’d give-it-a-whirl!
I don’t know how-successful they were, …but, as the story is told in Acts 19, it sounds-as-though they did-experience some-success in freeing some-people from the power of evil-spirits. And-so, Paul’s reputation grew! And there was great-interest in his-preaching and his-lectures, …and in-having-him pray for the sick, …and his ability to free hearts-and-minds that were held-captive by evil.
People knew Paul. They knew about Paul. He was somebody that-people wanted to be with, …or-at-least, be associated with.
But-one-day, …a funny-thing-happened with those seven-sons-of-Sceva. They said what-they-thought were magic-words over a person who was all-bound-up by some evil-spirit. But, when they said, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out…” ~ …when they said those words, …the evil-spirit answered-them! ! ! And do you know what the evil spirit said?...
The spirit said:
“Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19.15)
And-then the man (who was under the control of this-spirit), …he jumped-on the seven-sons-of-Sceva and put-such-a-whoppin’ on them that they fled the house, battered-and-bruised – …clothes ripped-and-torn ~ and they were shakin’ in their boots!
It’s an amazing story! ~ But-ya-know. …when word got-out about-that, …people in Ephesus were amazed! Acts says that people were “seized with fear” ~ …and-that the name of Jesus was held in high-regard!
The problem with the seven-sons-of-Sceva was not that they were trying to deliver people from the power of the enemy; …the problem was not that they believed Jesus’ name was powerful; …and the problem was not that they recognized the effectiveness of Paul’s ministry. The problem was: they had no personal-knowledge of Jesus! It was all heresay; …they didn’t have a personal-relationship with the Lord. The knew-of Paul’s ministry; …as-a-matter-of-fact, …they imitated Paul ~ …using his-words and following his-methods; …but, they had no personal-knowledge of Jesus, for-themselves! They simply used His name like a magic-word, …like “abracadabra” or “open sesame”! They’d heard Paul use Jesus’ name; …but they didn’t know Him for-themselves! They just knew about Jesus through Paul’s preaching and ministry.
Can you imagine the kind of reputation that Paul had among the Christians in the Ephesian-church!?! He was like-a-rock-star!, …an MVP!, …voted, “Most-likely to succeed in life”!
Now… As you imagine 2,000-years-ago, sitting in the living-room, …or in lawn-chairs on the back-patio of one of your Christian-friend’s-home, …think about how your heart would be lifted when your pastor got everybody’s attention and said: “Our dear-brother, Paul, has sent us a letter!”
Everybody would perk-up; …they’d sit on the edge-of-their-seats. They’d remember the whole-thing with the seven-sons-of-Sceva, …or they’d recollect sitting in the town lecture-hall and listening to Paul debate with people who thought-they-knew-better. The church-folk had great-admiration and respect for Paul. And they’d wanna listen-closely to what Paul had written.
Maybe there’s a pastor from your past that you hold great-esteem-for; …someone whose-ministry was blessed in wonderful-ways; …someone who had a dramatic-impact on your walk-with-the-Lord, …or who-was-instrumental in your coming-to-faith in the first-place. How would you react if I announced that we’d gotten a letter from him?... You’d tune-in, …you’d pay-attention, …you’d set-aside the coloring-books or the checkbook, …because you’d wanna hang-on-every-word!
Well… as the Ephesian-pastor read the letter, …I can imagine the people reacting in different-ways. Some may have been moved to tears as Paul shared his prayers for them; …others might have joined in the praises that Paul writes ~ …as he adores the God-of-heaven who chooses and adopts us into His wonderful family. Some may have felt a great-deal of conviction and guilt when Paul wrote, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” (4.1) ~ …because they knew in their heart-of-hearts that they were not living in a worthy-manner!
But-whatever was going through their hearts-and-minds as the first four-chapters of the letter were read, …I can’t help-but-believe that when chapter 5, verse 1 was read, …it was pivotal, …the climax, …the crescendo of a beautiful piece-of-music: …orchestrated to move the heart-and-soul of everyone who had come-to-know the gift-of-forgiveness and the majesty-of-God’s-grace! Paul said:
“Be imitators of God… as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering of sacrifice to God.”
“Be imitators of God…” Walk in His ways. Follow His footsteps. Go where He goes!
Now, obviously, …the opposite of this would-be, …to-be-like the prodigal-son: …who runs away, …takes his goodies and goes; …turns his back on his father.
But-then, …there’s also the example of the seven-sons-of-Sceva ~ …who try to imitate Paul: …his words, …his methods, …trying to get the same-results that Paul got; …but not as the fruit of a personal-relationship with God; …not bothering to follow in the ways of Christ!
Be imitators of God ~ …not imitators of the world, …or worldly-ways, …or-even, imitating the ways of the people-of-God, …no-matter how-revered or respected they are!
Scripture says: Imitate God. You are His children. Not Paul’s. Not Peter’s. Not John Wesley’s. Not mine! You’re not-even your-mama’s, …or your daddy’s!
You are children of the Almighty: …chosen by Him; …redeemed by Him; …adopted by Him and dearly loved by Him!... Praise be to God, our Father, and to Jesus-Christ, His Son, our Savior! Be imitators of God!
I’m guessin’ that most -parents feel this-way: We know ourselves well-enough to-know …that there are glitches and niches, …spaces and places about your character, …our attitudes, …our hearts, …stuff-that we don’t want our kids to pick-up.
But… …children carry family traits ~ …often imitating the attitudes they see displayed-by their-parents; …often mimicking behaviors that their parents act-out. Children learn to respond to life by observing-and- absorbing the closest earthly-relationships. Do you see some of your dad in you? How significantly did your mom influence the person you’ve grown up to be?
We learn this stuff by osmosis! It just-soaks-in without our thinking about it, …even in-spite-of our desires (sometimes) to be something different! And the next-thing-ya-know, …you hear something comin’ outta-your-mouth that sounds just-like-mom! Or you find yourself throwin’-the-wrench across the garage, …just like your dad used-to-do when he got frustrated, workin’ on the ole-Ford!
Our attitudes and behaviors are strongly-influenced by our most significant relationships ~ …namely, family-relationships. The people who cared-for-you as a youngster, …the people that helped-raise-you: …obviously, …your mom and dad, …but-for-some, ...it could’ve-been a gran’ma and gran’pa, …or an aunt, …or-whoever; …the people who cared for you, while you were growing-and-maturing, …they were teaching you life-lessons, …and you were soakin’-it-in like a sponge!
I know a gentleman who understood this principle. And he begged God to forgive him ~ for the things that he unwittingly-taught his son. This man didn’t become a follower-of-Jesus until his son was a young-man; …and the burden laid-heavy on-his-heart ~ …the burden of realizing the kinds of ungodly-things that he had lived-out before his son, while his son was young-and-soakin’ it-all-in. Thankfully, there’s grace for the sins we put-on-display for all-to-see, …even-our-children!... But, you understand the principle-at-work, here, don’t-you?
There’s a lotta-truth to the old sayings: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” And… “Like father like son.” Our attitudes, …and values, …and beliefs, …and behaviors ~ …so-much-of who-we-are is shaped-and-influenced by our most significant relationships!
Which-brings-us-to-the-question that you-all-know-is-comin’: Where do you find your most significant relationship? …your mom, …your dad, …your spouse, …your child, …your friends?
The past-is-the-past. And thank-God, …because of the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, …there’s hope for hearts-and-minds to-be re-wired, …transformed, …changed! But that-can-only-happen when we saturate-ourselves with different influences; …with different relationships; …with different examples-to-model different-ways of acting, …different ways of reacting, …different sets-of-values, …different action-and-behaviors. We can change ~ …but only when we throw-ourselves-into new-relationships that shape-us-in-new-ways!
You may think that you-are-who-you-are; …that your-shape has already been cut-out, …carved-out by your parents, (or-whom-ever) ~ …and you might wanna-say to me, “My parents made me a pit-bull! “I wish I was something a little softer-and-tamer, “But, this is who I am!”
Or-maybe you’d say, “Over the years, I’ve learned to be hard; “Don’t trust-others, “…don’t give your heart away, “…don’t risk loving” ~ After-all, …that’s the way that your-dad lived; …or that’s the way that your mom survived.
Maybe that’s how-you’ve-made-it in-life, thus-far! But, your-beginnin’-to-see that maybe God-wants to make-some-changes in you. The good news is that you’re not a finished-product, yet! Even though years-have-passed, …and you’ve been significantly-shaped by the people in your life, …and you’re heart-and-mind have been ‘decorated’ by all-kinds of sprinkles-and-icing ~ …the good news is that your-cookie isn’t out of the oven, yet! You can still-be rolled-out and re-shaped ~ …no-longer a pit-bull, …but, maybe something that is more compassionate; …no-longer a cowboy, …but, maybe more-like a team-player; …no-longer a tyrant, …but, maybe something more-like a servant!
Your heart-and-mind, …your attitudes-and-actions, …your values-and-priorities can still-be re-shaped ~ …it comes-down-to Who is your most-significant relationship with!?!
The answer to that question tells you two-things:
1) it tells you who is shaping the person you are becoming;
2) and-secondly, it tells you who you are imitating.
What’s a Church to be Like? That’s the driving-question behind the sermons these-days. We can dream of fancy-buildings, …and bigger classrooms, …and better carpet, …or big-productions, …or large-crowds ~ …but I hope that we’re beginning to see that Scripture has some pretty-specific-things to tell us, …regarding what a body-of-believers is to-be-like!
Ephesians was inspired by God, …written by Paul, …sent to a congregation in a particular-location. And it helps us to answer the question: What’s a church to be like?... The church is to be like Jesus! ~ Serving. Suffering. Loving. Ephesians 5 focuses on all these aspects.
“Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us”.
The short-answer to the question, What’s a church to be like? ~ …the short-answer is that the church is to be Christlike! And the church will only-be-Christlike, when it’s members submit to the work of the Holy Spirit within them. We must let Him re-shape our hearts-and-minds. We must surrender to His transforming grace. We must allow the Lord to re-shape our attitudes, …our actions, …our values, …our priorities. And that-will-only-happen, …when our relationship with God becomes the most-important thing in our life! Only-then, will we be imitators of God Only-then, will we be re-shaped in the image of Christ. Only-then, will the old-ways, …the things-that-we absorbed in from our parents, …from our closest-friends, …from living in this broken, messed-up, confused world ~ …only-when our relationship with God becomes the most-important thing in our life, …only-then will we become more-and-more like Jesus in our love, …in our service, …in our sacrifice.
What’s a church to be like? Christlike! You are God’s “dearly loved children” ~ Are you livin’ like it? Are you saokin’-in everything you’re heavenly-Father wants to teach you? Are you lettin’-Him shape the teen-ager, …the man-or-woman, …are you lettin’-Him shape the person you are becoming?
He is your Heavenly Father ~ …and your are His dearly-loved-children! He has redeemed you. He has chosen you. He has adopted you into His family! Are you throwin’ yourself into your-relationship-with Him, …so-that He is able to shape, …and re-shape the person you’re becoming, …so-that your heart-and-mind are more-and-more like Jesus!?!
